Session: 18-01-03: AI Implementation in Industry - II

Paper Number: 151076

151076 - Ai in Cutting Tool Industry to Improve the Repeatability and Reproducibility in Inspection: A Case Study 

Cutting tools are designed for machining with a desired tool life and workpiece surface integrity. Surface integrity includes surface roughness and induced residual stresses (distortion) for machined part service life. Similarly, the surface integrity of the cutting tool plays a critical role in its service life and the machined part's surface integrity. The surface finish of a band saw blade is a major factor that influences its performance across various cutting applications. A smooth surface finish reduces the friction between the blade and the workpiece, thereby minimizing heat generation during cutting. It will preserve the sharpness of the blade for extended periods and cut down the need to replace the blade frequently. The smoother surfaces will help in the setting (plastically bending) of the teeth as well because the angle of setting can be affected if a burr or a concavity is there on the teeth. Additionally, the smoother surfaces will aid in efficient chip removal from the cutting area, thereby preventing chip clogging and ensuring continuous, uninterrupted cutting processes. This will contribute to better cutting precision, significantly reduce downtime, and enhance the overall productivity in manufacturing and fabrication operations.

Another advantage of smoother surface finish is that it will produce cleaner cuts with minimal burrs or rough edges on the product. This is very crucial in applications that require a very good surface finish, such as woodworking and metalworking. This will contribute to high product quality and reduce the post-processing requirements. In essence, manufacturing band saw blades with appropriate surface finishes is essential for optimizing cutting performance, prolonging blade life, and enhancing overall efficiency in industrial operations. Therefore, band saws need to be evaluated after machining them to see if they have a good surface finish. The cheapest and easiest way to find the finish is to extract the profiles of the teeth of the band saw and then evaluate how much variation there is with a normal profile. The work presented a way to extract profiles of different sides of the teeth from images using various image processing techniques to extract relevant information about the teeth' structure. The process involves several steps, including thresholding, contour detection, curve fitting, and evaluation of the differences between the extracted curve of the tooth and its rectangular approximation. By identifying the differences, we can create different control charts for each side, which will help ensure that the tooth is smooth and let us know when the machining tool needs to be reground. It will also help in seeing the trends in the profiles, like burrs or concavity.

Presenting Author: Chandra Sekhar Rakurty The M. K. Morse Company

Presenting Author Biography: Dr. Sekhar Rakurty has over 20+ years of research and development experience in manufacturing, more specifically, designing cutting tools and cutting fluid delivery systems. He has completed his Master of Science and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Utah. He is the research and development manager at the M. K. Morse Company, Canton, Ohio. He has co-authored peer-reviewed publications on machining, forming, welding, and sustainable solutions. He is a reviewer for more than ten journals and associate editor of the Machining Science and Technology. He was awarded the best reviewer of the year (2022) for the Journal of Manufacturing Processes. He has 14 approved patents and more than 20 patent applications pending for new cutting tool designs. He is currently the chair of the ASME B5 (machine tools), the ASME B94 (cutting tools) standards committee member, the ASME B107 (hand tools) standards committee contributing member, and an ad-hoc faculty member at the University of Akron.

Authors:

Allen Varghese The M. K. Morse Company
Joseph Tarr The M. K. Morse Company
Ashif Iquebal Arizona State University
Chandra Sekhar Rakurty The M. K. Morse Company